Roundtable: What we learned from North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress

In this special roundtable edition of the NK News podcast, the team sits down to discuss the results of North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress, the messaging behind the latest parade in Pyongyang and what leadership reshuffles may signal for the country’s domestic and foreign policy direction.  The panel explores why this congress focused less on major course corrections and more on reinforcing Kim Jong Un’s leadership, embedding his priorities more deeply in party structures  and and strengthening elite discipline. They also discuss how North Korea further hardened its stance toward South Korea, and scrutinize the congress’s relatively vague language on future weapons development. Featured in this episode are:  Korea Risk Group Executive Director Jeongmin Kim  NK News Senior Analytical Correspondent Colin Zwirko  NK News Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy  About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insights from our very own journalists.